In a significant step towards planning first commercial service across the European continent, the 5G Broadcast Strategic Task Force (5BSTF) – comprising Media Broadcast (Germany), TDF (France), Cordiant Capital (UK), Emitel (Poland), CRA (Czech Republic), BTCY (Belgium) and RAI (Italy), supported by Rohde & Schwarz (Germany) – is driving the development of a joint commercial roadmap across six European markets representing more than 270 million people.
5BSTF is an initiative created in September 2024 by Media Broadcast (MB) and TDF, two major stakeholders of the broadcasting industry in Germany and France together with German technology provider Rohde & Schwarz. The goal is to signal the 5G Broadcast market readiness and to pave the way towards the first commercial networks. Shortly after its creation, Cordiant Capital, owner of Emitel, České Radiokomunikace (CRA) and Belgium Tower Company (BTCY) joined the task force together with RAI.
The 5BSTF members identify a completely new addressable market projected to emerge from Q2 2027.
The private Broadcast Network Operators participating in the Task Force are prepared to transform part of their existing infrastructure into 5G Broadcast network connectivity, according to a statement, enabling content providers and broadcasters to deliver specific services, mainly focusing on live and linear audiovisual content.
“We are glad to see private Broadcast Network Operators participating in the Task Force are ready to leverage the existing DTT infrastructure to enable the world’s first 5G Broadcast network connectivity, hence paving the way towards the broadcasting modernisation and transforming the broadcasting business landscape,” stresses the 5BSTF team (pictured).
5G Broadcast enables a variety of new multimedia services with lower latency and Quality of Service, improving the overall consumer Quality of Experience and bringing DTT video quality into smartphones and tablets. The new broadcast technology comes with a simplified and flat infrastructure having a minimum impact on the environment with minimum CO2 emissions and lowering the barrier for users to consume zero-rated content with longer battery lifetime.
